Main Keynote

It’s only words: why the quality of classroom talk is important – Neil Mercer, University of Cambridge 

Research has shown that children’s spoken language experience is very important for the development of their reasoning skills, their subject learning and their life chances in general. It is therefore vital that teachers use talk to the best effect in their classrooms. On the basis of recent research, I will describe how they can do so.

Parallel Keynote session choose one of 3 options

Option 1:Making Meaning Together – Rupert Wegerif, University of Cambridge

“Many children and young people experience a lack of meaning. They are given knowledge and skills that show them how to do things such as pass exams and get good jobs but they do not always get given any clear sense of why they should be doing these things. Together I hope that we could find out more about what gives meaning in education and how we can teach in a way that promotes meaning. I am assuming that meaning comes from relationships and dialogic education enables children and young people to engage with other larger perspectives in a way that can help them to discover meaning and to find their own voice in the long term dialogue of culture.”

Option 2:Teaching Thinking: The Let’s Think Approach – Sarah Seleznyov This keynote shares findings from the Let’s Think (Cognitive Acceleration) project led by King’s College University London, which has been exploring the best ways to support teachers to teach thinking lessons in English, Mathematics and Science for over 30 years.  Let’s Think lessons encourage pupils to work collaboratively to solve challenging and unfamiliar problems, and to reflect collectively on the strategies they share with each other. The project’s unique approach to professional development mirrors the thinking approach Let’s Think offers pupils: it encourages teachers to work collaboratively to solve problems of practice, and to reflect deeply on how these experiences relate to their day-to-day classroom practice.  The Let’s Think approach has been shown to be effective across several age phases and subjects, and has evolved over time so that it can operate at greater scale and with greater numbers of teachers. Option 3:Fear is the Mind Killer: Teaching Children How to Learn – James Mannion and Kate McAllister  Ten years ago, James and Kate were gifted a once-in-a-career opportunity: to create a Learning to Learn curriculum from scratch. They were given a whole cohort of pupils, for 5 lessons a week, and the freedom to do whatever they felt would be effective. Over the next few years, they developed a joined-up, whole-school approach to teaching and learning known as the Learning Skills curriculum. Learning Skills is rooted in three key concepts: self-regulation (monitoring and controlling emotions and behaviours), oracy (developing high quality speaking and listening skills in a range of contexts) and metacognition (focusing on the ‘how’ of learning). Through this approach, children learn to overcome the endemic fear of failure and become more confident, articulate, independent learners. An 8-year evaluation revealed that Learning Skills led to significant gains in subject learning across the curriculum, with accelerated gains among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Learning Skills approach is now taking root and bearing fruit in a range of contexts: from early years to universities, from disadvantaged schools to elite international colleges, and from workplaces to refugee camps. In this keynote, James and Kate will walk you through their adventures in Learning to Learn, and explain why their book is called Fear is the Mind Killer!